OUTSTANDING PERFORMERS: Aaron Napoleon surfed through five rounds of the contest, charging hard and getting shacked, posting one of the event’s two ten-point rides in the process. “I set it up, pulled in there, had some travel time,” he said of his 10-point tube. “I could see the jet-skis in the channel and even though I didn’t make it out, when I came up it seemed like the crowd was in awe. To get the respect, I’m on cloud nine.” San Clemente big-wave rider Chuck Patterson scored the other ten.

HIGHLIGHTS: This was the world’s first big-wave stand-up paddleboard event, a new sub-sport that has some surfers scratching their heads and other reaching for their paddles. “I’m addicted!” said Chuck Patterson. “This new sport is so exciting. It’s as much fun as anything I’ve ever done and it’s the most humbling. It has its glorified moments that leaving you feeling amazing, but then you can turn straight around and fall on a small little bump on the water. It’s a humanizing experience – you’ve just got to get back on your feet and start over. You’re always learning and it’s never boring.”

QUOTE: “If you could have been out there and seen how the water and the waves looked from where I was, it was so beautiful, man, I was in heaven.” – winner Aaron Napoleon. RESULTS (Winner: $4,000 donated to Jr. Lifeguard program in his name; every surfer in main event: $350.)